The Way I See It
by Dancing with tears in my eyes
Summary: Max and her family move to a new place. She's determined to keep her parents together, to keep her sister from failing school, and help Fang escape from his abusive family. I just want to say this now so I don't have to write it every chapter, I don't own Maximum Ride.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

"Max, wake up." Someone whispered into my ear. I opened my eyes and looked straight into the eyes of my sister.

"Why are we whispering?" I whispered back, rubbing my eyes. I noticed her eyes had tears in them, and became concerened. I distantly heard yelling. I opened up my blankets so my younger sister could crawl into the bed with me. We had just moved and it had been hard on everyone, especailly my parents. They had been fighting a lot lately, even before the move, but even more so now. Ella was extrememly worried, always asking me what I thought about their fighting. I just shrugged and told her they would work it out.

Ella's even breathing put me to sleep instantly and only woke again to the smell of bacon. I looked around for Ella and decided she had already gone downstairs, but when I appraoched my dad, he explained Ella and my mom went out.

"Where to?"

He shrugged, "Some new store your mother saw on the drive down here. Isn't it beautiful here?" He asked. I nodded and yawned. I quickly brushed my hair and ate the pancakes and bacon my dad cooked. "You wanna go into the town today? We need to get paint and things like that." I nodded and yawned yet again, "And maybe you can look for a job." He said teasingly. But I knew he ment it. Money was hard too and if I helped, to pay for things on my own, then it would be easier.

"Sure." I wasn't much of a talker in the morning, or afternoon, or at night. I wasn't much of a talker period. I pulled my suitcase over to my bed and hoisted it on top of it. I pulled out a tee that said I Hate You with a rainbow and a bunny with X's for eyes. Then put on a pair of ripped black skinny jeans. I made the look with a pair of black glittery stileto heels, Marla, my best friend back home, got me for my sixteenth birthday. I put on a purple belt, to add some color to the look. I grabbed my favorite ring and slid it onto my left pointer finger and put on Ella's earrings, which had a black cloud and a bolt of lightning on them.

I then quickly put lip gloss on my lips, applied eyeliner, and sprayed perfume and walked through it. I rebrushed my hair and parted it to the side. I looked at myself in the mirror, examinging how much I've changed in the last few years. I was taller, and odviously, I hit puberty. My dirty blonde hair had more of a brown tint to it than blonde, and my brown eyes were lighter. I looked more like my mom then my dad, anyone could see that. My dad and I thought alike, exactly alike. I heard my dad open the door and grabbed my cell phone, pushnig it in my pocket. I met him in the car and turned on the radio. I sang along to Wonderwall by Oasis as we sped into town.

"You can pick out any two colors. I will be in the back of the store. Your mom wants a pool built." He sighed and wandered off to the back and I looked around for paint.

"Would you like some help?" A guy wearing a orange vest with the stores name on it.

"Um, yes, sure. Could you show me where the paint is?" He nodded and started walking. I followed after him, he had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was built and odviously went to the gym a lot.

"Here you go."

I nodded at him in thanks and grabbed two buckets, purple and a light blue. I carried them to the back and found my dad, talking to a worker. They talked for about ten more minutes before we went up to the cash register. The guy that helped me find the paints was there and he rang up our paint cans.

"I'm Dylan." He smiled at me.

I smiled back, and pointed at his name tag, "I know. I'm Max." I reached over and shook his hand.

"Max, you coming?" My dad called. I walked out without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**56rChapter Two:**

I looked at the school. It was like any other highschool. Kids yelling at eachother, girls flirting with guys, guys flirting right back. I sighed and ran a hand through my sriaghtned hair. I was extrememly uncomfortable and not just because people were staring at me as I walked into the school. My flats were a size too small, and my bracelets kept jangling. I held the map of the school out in front of me as I navigated the halls, trying to find my homerroom. I sighed as I realized that I went around in a circle, twice, and only had a few more minutes to get to homeroom.

"Do you know where room 316 is?" I asked a girl who looked half asleep. She looked around, as if I wasn't directing my question towards her then pointed down the hall. I nodded, like I knew what she was talking about and slowly walked down the hallway, reading the numbers. I smiled when I saw the room and walked in. I wasn't surprised to see everyone was moving around and yelling. I walked quickly towards the teacher who was on her computer.

"Hi, I'm Max..." I trailed off.

She looked at me and nodded. "You can sit in the back. Next to Brianna. Brianna? Raise your hand." Brianna raised her hand and I took a deep breath as I made my way towards the seat.

I sat down awkwardly and looked at Brianna, "Hey."

She ignored me as the bell rang and then the morning annoucements came on, and a girl with bright red hair started reading something off a peice of paper. After the bell rang to go to first period, I found that room much easier. I was one of the first ones in the art class and there was music playing. A few kids were getting clay out and the teacher was washing her hands.

"Oh, you have to be the new student. Max, right?" I nodded and smiled slightly at her happy tone. It was eight in the morning and she was happy. Genuinly happy. "You can just sit anywhere."

I took a seat near the door and watched as people spilled in. Two people sat down at the table next to me. A girl and a guy. "Hey." The girl had dark brown hair and darkish skin. She had on a yellow tanktop that said love on it in blue letters and was wearing a pair of jeans and flipflops. I don't know how she wasn't freezing, it was the beginning of October.

"Um, hi. I'm Max." I whispered to her as the teacher started telling us what we would be doing with the clay. She smiled at me, "I'm Nudge."

Nudge, what an odd name. Odviously it wasn't her real name, well at least I hope it wasn't, but where do you get a nickname like that from? The teacher explained that we could make practically anything we wanted, it just had to have a lid. She explained how to start making the project and then we got to work.

Across from me a boy with blonde hair with a tint of red in it, and blue eyes was texting under the table, "That's Iggy." Nudge said.

What's with all these weird nicknames. Iggy nodded in my direction too distracted with his phone to look up. Nudge talked the whole time, telling me who to stay away from, and who is okay to talk to, and who I shouldn't even look at. Then she explained to me about the boys here.

"You seem like the kind of girl who would go for someone who is in a band. Or someone who is really artsy. My boyfriend plays a sport, well soccer. That's the biggest sport in this district, then tennis. But never mind that, boys. There are more artsy, band type of boys here than you think." She explained.

"My last boyfriend was a musician. He played the drums." I said, while taking a piece of gum Nudge offered me.

"Iggy, what did I tell you about texting in class. I gave you a warning last time. Now oyu have to go to the princples office. Go." The teacher cut in. Iggy sighed and stuck his phone in his pocket and made his way out of the room. Nudge and a few other people were giggling.

Nudge nodded, "See. I'm a good judge of people. Anyway," She said looked at the clock, "the bell's gonna ring in a few, you should sit with me at lunch. I'm sure we'll have another class together, hopefully."

We put away our clay away and got our books. A few minutes later the bell rang and my first real class of the day began.

I found Nudge and her friends right away. She was yelling at some guy about something, before someone came over and pulled her away. I took my tray over to where Nudge was being talked quietly too by th same guy who pulled her away.

"Max!" Nudge called, ignoring the guy. "This is James, my boyfriend." I smiled poiletely at James.

"Then, you know Iggy. That is Mandy, Carter, Flynn, and Dex." I smiled at them all as a hello. I sat between Nudge and Carter.

I looked around taking in my surrondings. I spotted a guy sitting at a table by himself. I turned to Carter, since Nudge was talking to someone else, "Why is he sitting by himself?" I asked.

Carter shrugged, "He's kind of a loner. Kind of weird too." He said.

I looked at him again. He had longish black hair and was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt. Suddenly he stood up and put his tray back, then walked out, with his hands in his pockets.

He was intriguing, but I wasn't about to stand up and follow him out on my blistered feet. Plus, I didn't really need the attention.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

My last class of the day happened to be with five people. A girl with a neck brace who wouldn't look up from her desk. A guy who looked stoned, and twins, whom always finished each other's sentences. Then there was that guy from lunch, who sat by himself. I debated sitting next to the girl with the neck brace (she should really look up, it's probably making whatever happened to her neck even worse.) but decided against it and walked towards the back, where the guy from lunch was sitting. Again, by himself.

Like I said before, I didn't really need the attention of becoming friends with people, who didn't even awknowledge another human's exsitence, but what the hell, right? I plopped down next to him and slipped my shoes off to where my heels could breathe. Their were two seats at one black rectangular table. The guy looked at me and I smiled slightly at him.

"Hi, do you mind? That I sit here?" I asked him.

He shook his head and then pulled something out of his school bag. An iPod. The teacher just walked in and told us that it was a study hall period. He had both ear buds in and I could just barely hear the song. It was by Green Day. I tapped my fingers along with the beat and even after the song ended kept tapping. Sudennly my fingers were slammed down by a hand.

"Stop." The guys deep voice took me by surprise. I raised my eyebrows and pulled my hand away.

"Why? I thought you had your iPod on." I tapped my fingers on my knee and continued drawing randomly on a peice of paper that I had.

"I'm Max." I told him, looking up. He nodded to me, "Fang."

I rolled my eyes. Seriously? I'm gonna have to meet these kids parents and set them straight. I hoped that these weren't their real names.

When I got home my mom was sitting at the kitchen table with my dad and they seemed to be having an animated discussion.

"Max, sweetie? We need your opinion." I sighed at the irratated tone of her voice. Why did she always have to pull me into her fights with my dad?

"Hmm?"

"What color do you think would look better in the kitchen: A light yellow, or a deep purple?" I could tell that the deep purple was her idea, and the yellow was my dads.

Well, the yellow would look better with the light blue we were painting the in living room, right next to the kitchen, but the dark purple is, well, dark purple. "Yellow." I said, then escaped upstairs to my new room.

I picked up a box that I hadn't unpacked yet and pulled out a picture frame. I smiled at the memory. It was me and Ella at my sixteenth birthday party, just a few months ago. I set up the numerous pictures and picture frames around my room and decided that I was going to paint my room this weekend. A few hours later my mom bursts into my room with a smile on her face. She was wearing a dark blue dress that reached just below her knees and a pair of heels. Her make-up was done and I saw my dad behind her in a nice shirt a pair of jeans.

"What's going on?" I asked and saw Ella wearing her newest skirt.

"Were going to a get together, so go get ready." My mom cheered. She was always ready to go to a party, or to hang out with people.

I sighed and brushed my hair and reapplied what little make-up I had on.

The house was filled with people milling about, mingling. The house was huge. A few kids that looked my age or a little older.

"I'm so glad you made it!" A woman with a pitchy voice said, running over to greet us. She had a glass of wine in her hand and there was music playing lightly, I didn't recognize the song.

"Your girls are beautiful. Max right?" I nodded and smiled polietly at the woman. "It's very nice to meet you. Oh, you have to meet my son, he's your age." The woman pulled me away from my family and into a beautifully furnished dining room. I gaped at the expensive looking china and smiled as the woman pulled her son over.

I reconized him as the guy from the store where we bought the paint. "Hello again." Dylan said. His mom smiled and ran to greet more guests that just walked through the door.

"Hi. Your house is beautiful." I told him, looking around again. He laughed, "Thanks. This place is my mom's heart and soul." I laughed lightly. "Dylan! You know Fang right?" Dylan's mom was pulling an agitated Fang along behind her and toward us.

"Um, yeah?" Dylan looked confused. "Good, make him feel welcome." Dylan was thoughtful for a second and I smiled at Fang as a hello. "You're in my science class!" Dylan said, snapping his fingers.

Fang nodded, "Yeah." He said, pushing his black hair out of his eyes. His eyes were an odd greenish color, mixed with brown.

"This is-" Dylan started but was cut off by Fang.

"Max. Yeah, I know." He said.

An awkward silence set over us and we all just stood there, looking at different directions before Ella came over to me. "It took forever to find you. This place is huge." She said, a starry look in her eyes.

I nodded, "This is my sister Ella. Ella this is Dylan and Fang." Ella smiled sweetly at them. "Okay everyone! Dinner is outback!" Dylan's mom yelled. I followed the crowd outside and Ella went to my mom and dad who were trying to be civil tonight.

I ended up sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall. Then something that surpised me happened, Fang came over to me and sat down. "Do you mind that I sit here?" He asked me, repeating my words from eariler in the day.

I shook my head, "Be my guest." I sipped the coke in my hand. "Can I ask you something?" I said without looking at Fang. I felt like being nosy. He shrugged in response, I took that as a yes. "Why did you sit alone at lunch today?"

I saw out of the cornor of my eye as he stood up, and I instantly felt bad. "I don't like a lot of people. I'm picky about who I hang around with." Then he walked away.

I watched him, utterly confused. If it was that much of a personal quesiton he could have just refused to answer it. I looked through the people looking for Ella, or my mom and dad. I felt incredibly bad, even though I didn't really do anything. "There you are!" My mom said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey." I replied.

"Oh c'mon, smile. Aren't you having fun?" I realized that I wasn't. "Dylan's nice isn't he? And incredibly cute." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't even think about it mom. I can control my own love life." She pouted and I sood up stretching. My mom seemed unusally bubbly right now. Maybe she was just happy to have met a friend, or she's drunk.

"When are we leaving?" I asked her, running a hand through my hair. She rolled her eyes, "Soon." Then she walked off, leaving me there

"At least I'm not drunk out of my mind!" My dad screamed before slamming the front door. I ran to my window and saw his trunk drive away.

I rubbed my temples. It's three in the morning and Ella and I have school tomorrow. Can't they give it a rest for a night? I sighed and flipped my light switch back off, when I heard something shatter downstairs. I walked downstairs and found my mom sitting on the kitchen floor, a shattered glass in the dining room and she was holding her and my dad's wedding photo.

"Do you want me to clean that up?" I asked her, pointing into the dining room. She looked up and I saw her make-up was running down her face. I looked away awkwarrdly, I was never good at comforting people, especially when they cry. She shook her head no.

"Just go to bed." Her speech was slightly slurred, which proved that she was at least slightly drunk.

I bit my lip, "Are you-"

"Just go to bed!" She yelled at me. I backed away and went upstairs into my room. I looked at one of the picture frames I set up eariler. I was about four, Ella two, and we were at the beach. My mom and dad were kissing and Ella and I were playing in the sand, oblivous of the picture being taken. My mom was pregnant at the time but she had a miscarriage. Which is when our family took a nosedive off a cliff.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

My mom and dad were ignoring each other. Every morning for the past week they wouldn't even look at each other. Ella is freaking out about it and I tried talking to them both but they both brush me off. They are so much alike and it amazes me that they don't get along. But I guess that's why they don't get along. I sighed and decided to be happy it was Friday. I was in my last class of the day, again there was the same five people there. I hadn't spoken to Fang since the party a few nights ago. I tried to but he keeps avoiding me. I was even going to sit with him at lunch to talk to him, but he hasn't been going to lunch.

But he was in class. I stalked to the back of the class room and plopped down on the seat next to him. "Hey. You've been avoiding me." I said. The teacher hushed me, I wasn't even talking loud! Fang shook his head, "No I haven't." I raised my eyebrows. "Don't try to lie, Fang." He shook his head, but I cut him off. "If it's what I said at the party. Sorry, I didn't know it was such a sensitive topic." I mean it was just a question about lunch. "You could come sit with me and my friends at lunch." I suggested, then I looked up suddenly as the class room door opened. Iggy walked in. He handed the teacher a slip of paper and looked around for a seat. I waved Iggy over and he pulled up a chair.

"He, I didn't know you were in this class. You weren't here a few days ago." He shrugged, "I didn't feel like coming a few days ago." He smiled, "Fang this is Iggy." I said. Iggy nodded towards him and said hey.

"Don't we have Social Studies and Study Hall together?" Iggy asked him. Fang nodded, "Yeah." He answered.

"You know how Fang sits alone at lunch? Don't you think it would be a good idea if he sat with us." I nudged Iggy when he didn't answer. He nodded, "Yeah, sure." Then Iggy pulled out a notebook and opened it. There was a drawing on it that showed, and explosion? "Are planning on blowing something up?" I asked, appalled. I was looking at the instructions on how to turn the bomb on.

He nodded and smiled, "Totally. Me and my brother Gazzy like blowing things up." My eyes were wide and I shook my head. And plus, again with the names! "Don't you have a little sister too?" I asked. I glanced at Fang who hadn't said a word during the conversation. Iggy nodded, "Her name's Angel." I nodded, at least Angel is a semi-normal name. "You have any siblings?" Iggy directed his question towards Fang. He shook his head, and didn't say anything more. The 45 minutes of the class went on with Iggy writing notes in his notebook, Fang reading a book, and me tapping my fingers. Fang glanced at my fingers a few times and seemed like he wanted to stop them.

After the bell rang Nudge was running towards me, "Max! Max! Wait up!" She pushed people out of her way, her dark hair everywhere. I stopped and waited for her. "Do you wanna join this science club with me? No one else wants too." I thought about it for a second.

I looked at her, confused. "Science club?" I asked her.

She sighed, "Yeah. I happen to like science and am good at it. Well, sorta, but I do like it and apparently they offer tutoring and I could use it. But I wouldn't know anyone in the club and some of the people in it are weird and I just wanna know at least one person." She explained.

"Uhhh, sorry Nudge, but science isn't really my thing." I told her.

She pouted and folded her arms, giving me a sour look. "Well, it was worth a try, see ya." She said, turning around, probably to go to her locker.

I was walking home and saw Fang in front of me. "Hey!" I called out. A few other people walking home turned around and when they saw I wasn't talking to them, kept walking.

Fang turned around and waited for me. "See, I'm not avoiding you." He said, smirking slightly. I rolled my eyes, "You were." I muttered.

"Are you going to sit with us Monday?" I asked him. He shrugged, "I'll think about it." He said. I looked to my side at a dog running down the street with a little kid. "C'mon. You know you want too." I said nudging him and smiling. He smirked again and then looked away from me, "If I'm here on Monday." Then he turned down the street. I stood there for a second watching him walking. What is that suppose to mean?

When I got home Ella was already home. "I thought you didn't get out of school for another hour?" I asked her, looking at the clock. She wasn't facing me so when she turned around I was shocked.

"What happened to your face?" She had a split lip and a bruise was starting to form on her cheek. "I got into a fight. Dad had to come pick me up then he went back to work." I rolled my eyes, "Did you start the fight?" I asked her. She shook her head, "No, but I finished it." I smiled at her, "I taught you well." She laughed, "My lip hurts though." She whined. I walked to the kitchen then threw her an ice pack, "Hold this on it." She held the ice on it and switched on the TV. I rolled my eyes at her, "Mom's gonna kill you." She didn't answer me so I just went upstairs to my room. It was still pretty weird, but the good part about my room is that it had a tiny balcony on it, but you had to climb through the window. I opened the window and climbed out. It was perfect weather, not to hot, not to cold.

I did the homework I had outside then jumped in the shower. I got out and got into my pajamas and heard the front door open. My mom started yelling at Ella right away. I laughed slightly and turned on my laptop.

I went to bed around ten and didn't wake up until twelve the next day. I yawned and stretched as I stood up. I got dressed and brushed my hair. I was still half asleep when I went downstairs and found the house empty.

I ate a bowel of cereal and decided I was gonna take a walk. I walked down the street that Fang walked down, trying to guess which house was his. I smiled when I saw him through a window. I walked to his front door and right before I rang the door bell I heard a crash. I raised my eyebrows and rang the bell. A woman who looked like a crack head answered the door. She puffed on her cigarette and glared at me. I heard a muffled shout from inside, "Is Fang here?" I asked, clearing my throat. The woman raised an eyebrow and smiled sickly. "Honey, Fang has a slut." I heard as she shut the door in my face. Slut? What was she talking about? Fang opened the door, wide eyed and stalked outside, pulling me along. "Why are you here?" He asked angrily stopping at the corner.

I looked behind me, "Why did she call me a slut?" I asked back. He sighed, "My parents are horrible people. Don't take what Mary said to heart." I figured Mary was his mom, also the woman who opened the door.

I looked at his face and noticed he had a black eye and a cut on his chin. "Did you get into a fight?" I asked him. He nodded, but seemed uncertain somehow. Then his eyes hardened, "Why are you here?" He asked again. "Isn't that the question everyone wants to know the answer too?" I answered sarcastically. Fang rolled his eyes, "Why did you come to my house?" I shrugged, "I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out." He looked away and back down the street. "Look Max, don't come to my house again, okay? And stop trying to be friends with me."

I watched Fang walk back to his house, feeling like someone just stabbed me. Why was I even trying?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

"Max? Max?" I heard Ella call. I sighed and trudged down the stairs. "Yes Ella?" I followed her voice into our dining room. She sighed and slammed her math book on the table. "You don't have to break the table." I told her laughing. She rolled her eyes at me,"Can you please just help me." I sat down next to her, pulling her homework towards me. I looked at for a minute then back at Ella, "Um, yeah, I can't help you. Ask a friend if they can show you how to do the math, or you know, just ask your teacher." I told her, standing back up.

She shook her head, "I've already asked I still don't get it." I thought for a second, "Ask your math teacher for a tutor or something than." I heard Ella sigh and I went back up to my room. I looked around, I was getting used to being here, all the friends I had made were some of the best I've ever had. But Fang, even though we weren't friends, and apparently never will be, he still worries me. He came to school with even more bruises than he had before, from the 'fight' he got in.

It was Monday night and there wasn't anything on TV, neither of my parents were home and Ella needed help. I used my cell phone to order pizza, I didn't feel like cooking.

I woke up the next day with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was extremely worried as I got ready. When I arrived at school, the feeling eased up a bit, was still there. I shrugged it off, and eventually the feeling went away. Until lunch rolled around.

I was sitting and having a conversation with Nudge and Iggy about how we should all hang out this weekend when a group of guys go over to Fang. Nudge and I both stopped talking. And for Nudge to just suddenly stop talking was never a good thing. Since I tried becoming friends with Fang, Nudge and Iggy have tried to talk to him as well.

But the guys were pretty big, Fang had a few muscles but if the group of guys were there to fight, they'd win in an instant. I faintly heard a few, very cruel words directed at Fang. Fang stood up suddenly, causing the chair he was sitting on to fly out from beneath him. He had a murderous look in his eyes as stared down the 'leader' of the group.

I stood up too, seeing that Fang was ready to punch the guy. Before I got there though, he did. Apparently Fang had a lot of built up anger, or he was stronger than he looked. The guy fell backwards and suddenly two other guys were beating Fang up. After a minute of trying to fight back, he suddenly just took the punches.

"Stop!" I yelled, pushing through the crowd that had formed. I pushed one of the guys off of him. He let me, not wanting to hit me too, I guess.

The other guy followed and I sat down next to Fang. "What in the world is going on here?" I heard the principle yell, probably pushing students away.

No one answered him, and he sighed, "I'll get it out of you later. Right now, help him to the nurse." He directed at me.

Fang stood up without help and I walked with him to the nurse, "Why did you punch him? He had four other guys with him, who were ten times bigger than you!" I said, trying not to shout.

He stopped before we went inside and looked like he was going to say something, but changed his mind. When we walked into the nurses office we took her by surprise. "Blood is everywhere! Sweetie sit down." She gestured to a chair.

The school nurse, Mrs. Hannah, was an old woman with gray hair and glasses. She was a sweet woman and cared about everyone. As she cleaned Fang up I sat in a chair across the room. Then she walked over to me.

"Would you mind driving him home? I don't think he should stay in school the rest of the day. He should go to the doctors and get his nose checked out. It seems broken. I'll contact his parents." She said.

I nodded, despite the fact that I didn't have a car. I walked over to Fang, "How am I driving you home? I don't have a car." I told him. He pulled a pair of car keys out of his pocket, "But I do." I nodded, I guess I was driving him home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"So I dropped him off and his parents were waiting outside, sitting on the steps. They looked so angry. I asked him if he wanted me to come in with him or at least take him to the door but he told me no." I told Ella.

She looked confused, "You are the worst story-teller ever. So wait, Fang got in a fight-what kind of name is that?-and his parents were really angry. So? Wasn't mom and dad angry with me when I got in a fight?" She said.

I nodded, "You have a good point, but the other day when I was there his mom was really horrible. She called me a slut!" I said to her.

Ella laughed, "Well, some people are just mean? What do you want me to tell you? His parents were mad. Everyone's parents are always mad about something. Anyway, I did what you said. I set my pride aside and I got a tutor. A very hot one at that, but he's in college or something."

I shook my head at her, "Focus on passing, not on some hot collage guy." She rolled her eyes at me.

"So anyway, I was thinking." Ella started, shoving a strawberry in her mouth.

"That's always dangerous."

Ella continued, not acknowledging me, "We should get a dog or something. It would be just what we need!"

I stared at Ella, almost with a sad expression, "The last thing we need is a dog Ella." She grumbled something under her breath about me being a party-pooper and took her strawberries upstairs to her room.

Fang didn't come to school today.

That was the first thing I noticed when I walked into the lunch room today. And on my way home, before going down my street, I made sure to walk down Fang's. A man was outside, he looked a lot like Fang so I figured it was his dad. I walked up to him.

"Um, hi. I'm Max, is Fang here?" I asked awkwardly.

The man shook his head, "No, he hasn't been here all day. And who are you?" He asked me.

"Um, I'm a friend. I was just wondering since he wasn't at school today."

The man (still not sure if it was his dad or not) laughed, "Wonder less." He said standing up. And with that he walked inside.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

"Okay, so I joined the science club and the people weren't really as weird as I though, they're actually pretty cool." Nudge came up to me on Wednesday morning, all happy and smiling talking about science

I smiled at her, "See, now you know people. And haven't you ever heard the saying don't judge a book by its cover?"

She rolled her eyes at me, "Whatever." Then she smiled again, "I'll see you later okay?"

I said bye to Nudge and went to second period

After school Nudge offered to give me a ride home, "I was thinking, do you wanna come over this weekend? You could bring your sister if you want, she seems cool from what you tell me. I was gonna invite Iggy and maybe even Fang. I talked to him today, he seemed happy that I talked to him. Like he was glad for the distraction or something. Most people become, almost distressed when I open my mouth. Anyway, the reason I'm asking is because I was reading this scary story on the internet and it was about this thing called Slenderrman."

He is this really tall, skinny thing, with no face. He lies to kidnap people. But it's really scary. So apparently someone made this series on You Tube about him and it got made into a movie. I bought the dvd online and should be here tomorrow. I don't wanna watch it alone." She finished as she pulled into my driveway.

I nodded, "Um, yeah, sure. I look Slenderman up tonight, see what I'm in for." I laughed, "Bye Nudge, see ya." She waved at me and I went inside.

"Max? Can you come in the kitchen?" I heard my mom's voice say.

I warily went into the kitchen, Ella was sitting there with a curious look on her face and my dad was standing on the other side of the room. "Yeah?" I asked dragging it out so it sounded like this: Yeaaahhh.

"Um, well, we don't know if this is official yet but your dad and I...well, we, we, well." My mom stuttered.

I raised my eyebrows, "What? What are you stuttering about?" I was getting upset. What were they going to tell us.

Ella was standing up straight, "Are you guys getting a divorce?" She asked. Her voice was cold and quiet. Never have I heard Ella talk like that.

My mom's eyes widened and my dad sighed, putting a hand on his forehead, "No, no!" My mom yelled, "More like taking a break?" It came out as a question.

Ella snorted, "I'll be upstairs if you need me Max."

"Ella! Ella wait a second." My dad said. She didn't wait, just swiftly walked up the stairs to her room.

I looked at them, disapproval probably showing in my eyes, "Great timing. How are you going to afford a divorce? Do you even know how much they cost? Were you aware that we just bought a house?" I said, my voice rising with each sentence.

"Max. I'm just gonna stay at a friends for a week or two." My dad said. His voice sounded defeated, tired, and scared.

"Which is gonna turn into two more. I'm gonna go for a walk." I muttered. I grabbed my iPod from my school bag and put the volume all the way up.

What was I gonna do? My dad moving out? I went to a nearby park. I had to stop this somehow. I sat on a swing and pushed myself. There weren't many kids here, and the ones that were, had no interest in the swings. I took my head phones out when I realized a little girl was talking to me.

"Could you push me?" She asked sweetly.

I nodded, "Sure. Hop on." I stood up and the girl sat in the swing next to mine. Her hair was a pretty blonde and it was very long. It was made into a braid and the dress she was wearing had hearts all over it.

"My name's Angel." The girl shouted as I pushed her. Where did that name sound familiar from. Iggy!

"Are you Iggy's little sister?" I asked Angel, stopping her. She smiled at nodded, "You know my brother?"

"Yeah, is he here?" I asked her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to where a pair o slides were. Iggy was there with another little kid, I'm guessing Gazzy. He had the same hair as Angel and the same crystal blue eyes.

"Hey Iggy." I said as Angel ran off to join Gazzy.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked, stretching. I shrugged, "Okay, I guess."

He nodded, understanding. "So, are you going to Nudge's this weekend?" He asked.

I nodded, "Most likely. I'm probably going to bring my sister. Do you know if Fang is going?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "It would greatly surprise me. I hear the only place he goes is school. But I just started talking to the guy, so I don't really know."

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, seeing I got a text from Ella I told Iggy I'd be right back and moved to sit on a bench.

**Ella: **_Where r u? I think they r throwing things._

**Max: **_ok, I'll come home. Just stay in your room._

"Well, Iggy I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Angel and Gazzy bye." I said, taking off.

When I got home my parents defiantly were throwing things. I went up to Ella's room and saw she wasn't there. I went into my room and saw her on the tiny balcony thing.

"You wanna go to Nudge's this weekend?" I asked her.

"Your friend Nudge? Sure, I guess." I nodded and shut the window for her. She didn't need to hear the things they were yelling at each other. I started on my homework and left Ella to sit outside until they calmed down.

I opened my window,"El? They aren't talking anymore. They're in separate rooms." She nodded and I climbed out there with her. The sun was setting and the sky was sorta pink..

"They really are separating, aren't they?" She was crying, her voice was shaky.

I shrugged, "I hope not. Just go get some sleep."

I stayed outside well after dark, just looking at the stars and the full moon. Maybe I could stop my parents from splitting up. That it would be too much for everyone to handle. I sighed and went into my room. I closed the window and changed into my pajamas, hoping their fighting wouldn't start-up again.


	8. Chapter 8

_I figured out what to do with the story, but, the updates will be slow until September/October. By then, the updates should pick up the pace. Also I made a few changes to the story. There is no longer a lacrosse team. It is also October in the story now. And I probably made a few more, minor you for reading!_

**Chapter Eight:**

"Ella, this is Nudge, Iggy, Flynn, Mandy, Dex, and James." I introduced. Ella smiled at all of them and struck up a conversation with Mandy, who I have grown to dislike.

I'm not exactly sure what I don't like about her, but even her presence annoys me. She's just one of those people you know?

"Is Carter coming?" I heard Iggy ask. "I haven't talked to him in a few days, considering he's been in ISS." ISS is In School Suspension and Carter had earned himself seat in there for a week.

Nudge shook her head, "His parents grounded him, so he can't come."

Nudge ran to the door when someone knocked on it and brought in two girls. One with brown hair with blue streaks going through it and she had a sleeve of tattoos. The other girl had frizzy red hair but it worked for her.

"Guys, everyone knows Lissa right?" Nudge said, pointing to the girl with the frizzy red hair. Then moved next to the girl with the sleeve of tattoos. "This is my cousin, Amy." There was an assortment of hi's to Amy and Nudge came over to me.

"Fang never really gave me an answer. So who knows if he is coming." She said, just to me, than she talked louder, "Alright. Everyone is staying over right?" Everyone nodded and found a comfortable spot in Nudge's living room.

Nudge made her way into the kitchen to grab an extra bowel to put more popcorn in. She already had set soda's and other food out and she ordered a pizza which will be here soon hopefully. I was starving. Nudge came in with not only another bowel but the pizza. Everyone jumped up and grabbed two pizzas and sat down again. Ella was sitting in between Dex and Mandy, then right was Flynn. Then on a chair was Amy and Lissa sat on the floor, leaning on the chair. Carter was sitting on another chair in the room and I was leaning against that chair on the floor. The floor was covered in carpet so it wasn't that uncomfortable. Nudge was laying on her stomach next to the table and James was sitting next to her, his hand on her back.

"Nudge, where are your parents at?" Amy asked.

Nudge turned around and smiled at us, "They went out for a date night." She sat up to take a drink of soda and someone knocked on her door. Her eyes locked with mind and she motioned for me to follow her. "Do you think it's Fang?" She asked me.

I shrugged, "Open the door." I stood behind her and watched as she opened the door all the way to show Fang.

"You made it!" Nudge said, smiling. Fang nodded, clearly uncomfortable. "Okay, we have a bunch of food and drinks in the living room. And make yourself at home." She grabbed Fang's wrist and pulled him into the living room, me trailing behind him.

He turned his head towards me and I smiled at him, "Everyone, this is Fang. And I'm going to put the movie in now. So hurry up and use the bathroom or whatever." Lissa and Mandy walked to the bathroom and Nudge got the dvd ready.

I sat down once again and motioned to Fang to come sit with me. He sat down and grabbed a soda off the table. "Hey." I said to him. He nodded at me, "Hey. What exactly are we watching?"

I shrugged, "Some scary movie Nudge found."

A few hours later and Nudge's parents told us not to be to loud and the movie was over. We were all just currently eating and talking when Nudge came back from the bathroom. "Do you guys want to play like, Man Hunt or something."

Almost everyone nodded, "Okay, how many people are here." Nudge said to herself. "Okay, Mandy, James, me, Ella, and Dex will be one team and Carter you will be the guard for the first round. Flynn, Max, Amy, Lissa, and Fang, you're another team and you guys can hide first. My porch will be the jail. Just in case not everyone knows how to play, I'll explain it. One team hides while another team seeks and when a person is found they are brought back to the jail. If you see someone who is supposed to find you, you can run. People that are in the jail can escape, if they are stealthy enough." Nudge laughed. " Oh, and hide only on my street please! That's basically it, let's go outside."

We all paraded outside and Nudge's team sat on the porch with their eyes closed while my team hid. I went all the way down to the end of the street and went into someone's backyard and hid behind a bunch of bushes. I sat down and took a deep breath, I leaned against the fence that separated the houses. Even though it was just the beginning of October it was cold. I was happy that I had worn long sleeves under my sweatshirt. I peeked over the bushes I was hiding behind and saw Dex and he was coming this way. If I could stay along the fence, I could get away. I slowly start to crawl along the fence, then I peeked through another set of bushes.

He was starting to near them, so I crouched instead of crawled and quickly followed the fence. When the bushes ended, I ran. "Hey!" Dex yelled, spotting me. I smiled at ran faster. I ran through people's front yards and backyards and stopped behind a tree. Dex was still a few houses down and I realized that the tree I stopped behind, was a tree house. I glanced at the house, and then started to climb. At first I didn't notice Lissa in the tree house, I was just watching Dex.

"Max?" Lissa whispered, making me jump. "Holy crap, Lissa. I just died a little." I whispered back.

"Who is out there?" She asked.

I looked through the window of the tree house. "Dex, and James are out there. Their pointing up here." I said ducking down.

We stayed ducked down and out of sight of the windows for a good ten minutes before Lissa decided it was safe and looked out the window. "They are gone." She said, going towards the ladder that led out of the tree house.

She started climbing down and I went down after her only to have two hands holding my arms. "Gotcha." Dex said. Lissa screamed in surprise, then laughed, "You scared me."

Dex and James took us down the street to Nudge's house and put us on her porch. Flynn was there too, drinking a Coke. "Hey, guys. I've tried to escape but he just won't have it." Flynn pointed to Carter.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, I sat down on the porch swing and Lissa sat next to me. Flynn was sitting below us. "I'm going to make a distraction. When I do, run and hide." I said, barely moving my mouth. I felt like we were breaking out of jail. "Now." I ran straight towards Carter, and his strong muscled arms wrapped around my waist and he put me back onto the porch. Nudge and Ella were bringing Fang to the porch.

"They caught you? You like blend into the night." I said, shocked. Ella laughed and left with nudge.

Fang smirked, "Well, Ella chased me and Nudge stopped me."

A few minutes later Lissa was brought back to the porch, "My sacrifice for you was for nothing?" I laughed.

She smiled and shook her head, sitting down. "Yeah, apparently, Mandy is a fast runner." Then Amy was brought up, mumbling about how Dex didn't have to tackle her.

"I got Flynn!" James yelled. Then the rest of their team came up onto the porch, smiling proudly.

"Alright," Nudge said, "It's our turn to hide!" The team all ran off in different directions as my team closed our eyes.


	9. Sorry!

I haven't written in _forever._ I feel like a horrible person...I'm sorry to people who were following this story, and if you're still willing to read this story, I've started writing it again. Honestly, I completely forgot about it. I found it in my files over the weekend, and started writing a new chapter. Then I forgot my password for this account and had to change it.

Again, I'm sorry! I hope everyone who was reading this continues to after I post the new chapter.


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